School Safety Center Toolkits - Report Example

Assignment on Schools Safety Toolkits An Assessment of Vulnerabilities Contents Introduction to School Safety Center Toolkits 3 2.Texas School Safety Center Toolkits 4 3.Campus Safety and Security Audit 5 4.Assessment on Vulnerabilities 6 5.Special Areas, Their Rationale and Arguments for their Improvement 6 1. Introduction to School Safety Center Toolkits Safety centers at schools and their allied toolkits are precautionary measures which ensure reliable mode for safety and security of students, faculties and facilities. As preemptive preparations, to avert problematic situations that might crop up at schools, these measure are the first line of aid and assistance against adverse situations. There exists a special hierarchy and a specialized procedure to rely on them. A systematic procedure is defined for deployment and employment of these measures which is now fast becoming essential in schools. For the sake of understanding adverse situations that might confront, can be divided into two main categories as natural calamities and man-made calamities. However, it is imperative for safety centers to stay prepared for any situation to safeguard schools which form our future and valuable assets (TxSSC, 2010). To provide safe and secure environment, students and staff are provided with a comprehensive plan and important tools. This plan undergoes an assessment and audit after a certain period of time. Any slack or missing measure is notified and conveyed to be overcome. These reports are categorized under following review sections: a. Current Physical Condition of facilities b. Review of documents that include multi hazard emergency plan, floor and site plans, campus emergency procedures, improvement plans, drills and student code of conduct c. Practices and procedures for creating safe environment d. Attendance, Discipline data and administration of trainings, Parents and staff awareness about safety center and procedures e. Climate data f. Access control and visitors management A special safety and security audit guide is provided in order to assess overall condition and ranking of schools. These are administered through district superintendents who are entrusted with the task of collecting real time data (TxSSC, 2010). They are provided with special IDs and Accounts to have them filled with current data and send back to authorities. This assignment is an attempt to pinpoint high priority areas for a safety center and their rationale. It also addresses measures that can be taken to mitigate deficiencies they might be present within the assessed safety center. 2. Texas School Safety Center Toolkits Before providing a discourse on why and how certain deficiencies occur, a reference to Texas School Safety Center is important. Also, references to certain reports are also made in order to comprehend the rationale behind adopting guidance for prioritizing and addressing deficiencies. A comparative analysis will be made to the check respective elements in safety centers for their status. The audit which is carried out by the end of each reporting cycle is a way to provide information details of safety centers. There are certain reporting tools which run online and are available through authentic ways. District superintendents are notified through emails to employ their efforts in collecting data and complete the report which is checked by school safety center (TxSSC, 2010). Currently major areas of concern are collection of data on weather, schools preparedness and promotion of safe and healthy environments. Campus based emergency management toolkit is an integral part of such programs. A warning system is indeed important to effectively face adverse events. The management plans provide guidance, procedures and resources in this context. They set standards which are: a. Prevention/ Mitigation Standards b. Response Standards c. Preparedness Standards and d. Recovery Standards The management system addresses multi hazard emergency operation plan which in case of natural and accidental calamities might be helpful in saving students, staff and facilities. Another important part of the management system is Training, Drilling and Exercises, which along with Mutual Aid Agreements provides for a dependable program. 3. Campus Safety and Security Audit The auditing system is administered through a standardized guide. These guides prioritized certain aspects according to the regional dynamics and statistically variant issues. For example in certain areas the social conditions might be healthy and state could be able to provide fool proof security to school centers, however, it is a possibility that inclement weather can be hostile due to pervasive tornados and cyclones. These issues are addressed through prioritizing certain aspects. They need additional measures in guides which are sanctioned on behalf of respective district authorities. In SSCs ‘Safety and Security Audit Guide’ is prescribed in this regard and a certain duration is set to check and recheck the measures (Colorado.gov, 2006). Also, documentation and conducting of drills and exercises are important regardless of the amount of time and effort. This documentation and conducting of exercises help in: a. Prevention b. Mitigation c. Preparation d. Responsiveness e. Recovery In light of above detailed analysis of the systems, procedures and constituent elements it can be ascertained that a district safety and security committee must be comprised of staff from different disciplines within a district. District campuses must ensure procedures and emergency plans for affectivity in achieving safe and secure environment for student, staff and facilities at schools. 4. Assessment on Vulnerabilities Vulnerabilities are important to be noted while preparing a proper assessment. To this effect, following submissions are important to be made: a. Information on Auditing data and Assessors b. Demographic data c. Drills and exercises, Record of Drills and frequency of these exercises d. Emergency operation plans and compliance with standards e. Mutual aid agreements f. Prevention to recover trainings g. Emergency management trainings and district personnel 5. Special Areas, Their Rationale and Arguments for their Improvement In previous sections it has been discusses that special areas of safety in a school safety center toolkits are prioritized due to the fact that the regional dynamics are different for each district. For example a region facing high crime rate cannot have similar priority list as a region with highly inclement weather. In addition to this some areas are sometimes given less preference due to absence of respective facilities in a district or due to the lack of mutual aid agreements (NCPC, 2003). In such cases a proper drive and public-private social will is required to be developed through public awareness programs that provide access to such facilities (KCSS, 2012). These facilities are then integrated with the safety centers for keeping standards up to the mark. In this paper following areas have been studied and a comparative analysis has been made to investigate issues, slacks and lacunas that might be present. The areas are: a. Students and staff protection (encountered between home and schools) b. In-school surveillance systems and visitors managements c. School property and Traffic issues around them (access to prevention and after-hazard facilities) d. Building design hazards, walkways, fencing, walls and signs e. Availability of the office staff and protection and aid administration trainings f. Physical Ability of the staff to face hazards by applying procedures g. Continuous monitoring and clear vision on school area and expanse h. Building hazards and exit ease and training i. Trouble prediction and notification of high risk locations j. Cameras and Alarm systems and emergency call stations (proximity and access) k. Playground safety l. Dimensions of structures m. Hardware installed and their interaction with staff and students n. Sharp edges and tripping hazardous areas o. Children supervision facilities and staff skills p. First aid facilities and training for their administration q. Entrance security and blockages routes r. School lockdown effectiveness s. Safe room resources t. Safe structures for students to ply and play These areas were studied from literature provided by Texas attorney general (Texasattorneygeneral, 2008) and for the purpose of detailed analysis four areas were shortlisted due to their being important in the settings where study was conducted. These four areas had deficiencies of various kinds which will be discussed and an argument for mitigating them will be given. These areas are: a. Entrance security b. Surveillance and Visitors Management c. Staff training to administer first aid in playgrounds d. Cameras and Alarm systems and emergency call stations (proximity and access) The above mention list of four items has been arranged according to priority. Previous list was a reference which was made to note a number of areas studied. The rationale behind choosing four items in their specific order is the frequency of interaction of a facility with challenges posed by them. Indeed it goes without saying that schools must be secure in wake of current social and political situation that prevails. Schools have been target of various misdemeanors during previous year. Students and staff have been subjected to various confrontations and problems which can explicitly be categorized as crimes. Certain event of security breach by criminals with malicious intent has been pervasive which has caused loss of lives. The criminals subjected schools with indiscriminate firing and in few cases help students and staff hostage. The authorization, entry and allowance mechanism need to be made secure which can help in safety of schools and its elements. Measures such as fencing and automated entry security are trending in advanced areas. These measures are able to avert dangers of any breach in school precincts, thus securing schools from external threats. Further these security measure are needed to be integrated with policing system of the area which can rapidly respond to any problem in this regard. The second area of research was the surveillance and visitor management. This area has also been an important issue where societies have transformed a big deal. Complex societies always need a sold check over the law and order. These checks are provided with the help of proper surveillance mechanisms. Interactions between individuals are getting more complicated and under certain conditions can move towards wrong directions. A proper surveillance mechanism and its intimation can help in discipline these interactions. Similarly, visitors’ management is also important, especially in schools where parents and guardians play an important role. Third aspect that has been studied is related to students and activities related to health. Playgrounds and open gyms are frequently found which are these days getting intricate and specialized according to exercises that are preferred by students and staff. These playgrounds in some case can make students face hazardous situations. These situations can vary from tripping to fractures which are to be avoided under strict presence of physical instructors. A proper nursing department with first aid facilities is important. Their trainings need to be refreshed in order to tighten the slack. Also, a vehicle which is fitted with fine and advance medical care and delivery mechanism is important. A nursing facility must be able to assess the intensity and volume of damage that might have been caused. For the sake of this purpose certain specialized trainings are available as professional courses. In recent days, a unified mechanism of network operations is available for a centralized monitoring and surveillance of alarms and cameras. These systems are required essentially in schools where SSC are given due importance. There is an urgent need to integrate these systems at a central place and their connectivity must be ensured with related handling departments. For example a fire control system which is given to a facility must be integrated with local fire control facility. Similarly, it is important for security professionals to provide a rapid system of response to the information received from the security cameras at schools. Last by not the least, feasibility study must always be prepared in order to assess the proximity rescue area access and emergency procedures implementation. Also any infrastructure modification required must be proposed if deemed important to implement the safety center procedures and plans. References Colorado.gov. (2006). School Safety Resource Center - Protection. Retrieved from http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/CDPS-SafeSchools/CBON/1251622879121 KCSS. (2012). Kentucky Center for School Safety - Facilities/Buildings and Grounds. Retrieved from http://www.kycss.org/facilities.php NCPC. (2003). SCHOOL SAFETY AND SECURITY TOOLKIT A Guide for Parents, Schools, and Communities. Retrieved from http://www.ncpc.org/cms-upload/ncpc/File/BSSToolkit_Complete.pdf Texasattorneygeneral. (2008). Campus Safety and Security Audit Toolkit. Retrieved from https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/ag_publications/pdfs/safetytoolkit.pdf TxSSC. (2010). Home | Texas School Safety Center. Retrieved from http://txssc.txstate.edu/ Read More